Result of Utter Boredom
by GazMembrane
Summary: Gaz is captured by an unknown sourse and Dib feels responsible and there's only one person he can turn to for help(WILL become ZAGR, mostly in sequel(inprogress)R&R please!!


Disclaimer: The characters in this story are not mine, the story though is, I don't own the Irken race, nor the humans(I will someday, you just wait and see) The only character that is my own is Sirk, so you can't use him, he's mine!!!!!!!  
  
  
  
Result of Utter Boredom  
  
The sun came up over the cityscape of large high-rise buildings and skyscrapers, the cars and busses had been moving for a while now, drivers arguing and raging as they went to and from their jobs. Away from the noise of the big city, in the residential part of the city, in seemingly small house, the windows were blacked out by curtains, no one knew if they were like that to stay away from the outside world, or that one of the children had picked the color.  
  
A small window on the east side of the house had it's curtains open, but not the window, inside covering the walls, posters of UFOs, Bigfoot and other paranormal phenomenon could be seen, a pair of glasses rested on the nightstand, next to an alien alarm clock. "The truth is out there!" it said over and over as it went off, telling the sleeping form in the bed that it was time to wake up. The form moaned as it sat up and reached for the pair of glasses, his black hair was going in seemingly every direction and he could barely keep his eyes open.  
  
"Dib! Get up! I'm not waiting for you again!" a harsh, feminine voice yelled from outside, as footsteps went past the outside of his room. Dib looked at his clock then remembered he hit the snooze button two times, and only had ten minutes until the bus came to take him and his sister to the middle school, that was called 'Skool' He had a lot to do today, once again, he was going to have another one of his alien-spying-on devices delivered to school, that way, he could figure out more about the resident alien, Zim.  
  
Zim wasn't asleep, rarely did he ever sleep, he didn't need to, he didn't know why, but he didn't, to him, sleep was merely a human function that restored their energy; what little they had. If he ran out of energy, his pack would recharge him, he walked into the small pod that applied his disguise, he needed to look more human for his mission; to learn as much as possible, discover weaknesses, then take over the human race, and rule them with an iron fist. He could hear the chattering of his robot companion, GIR up on the main floor of the house, which acted as his base. It was surprising more people hadn't suspected him, but that was proof to him that the human race was foolish and weak. He only had one threat, Dib, his equal, and rival in everyway. After his disguise was applied, he used the lift to get to the main floor of his 'secret' base.  
  
"I made pancakes!" GIR cheerfully said from his place, sitting on the couch, watching "The Scary Monkey Show".  
  
"GIR, I need you to guard the base today, do NOT open the door, do NOT open the window, do NOT leave the house, and most of all, do NOT go down to the base, or the loading bay, got it?" Zim said going to the door that once seemed that is once was a door to a Men's' Restroom.  
  
"OK!" GIR said, waving his mettle hand, high in the air, "Bye bye!" he said going back to tossing the pancakes up into the air and catching it with his face.  
  
Zim looked at the little robot curiously, then just shrugged it off, opening and closing the door and walking to the 'Skool' He got strange looks from passers-by, whether it was for his skin color, his lack of ears and nose, or for his pack, that looked something like a shell. He just thought to himself that one day he would rule them all, and that it would be HE who would be starring at them.  
  
When the school warning bell rang, Dib and his little sister Gaz walked onto the school grounds, Dib looking around for the delivery truck that would give him his new device. "Why don't you just get it delivered at home…" the slightly smaller Gaz asked, her eyes seemed closed, it was unless she saw something she absolutely loved, or absolutely hated, that she widened her eyes. Her dark purple hair rested against the sides of her face and the back of her neck, that had a skull necklace around it, everything seemed to match when it came to Gaz, her gothic style didn't make her popular with the other people in the school, but she didn't care, she kept telling herself she would one day destroy them all, them and her brother Dib; he always seemed to get in her way.  
  
"I can't watch Zim from our house, Gaz, besides, maybe I can finally show someone what he is, and get them to believe me when it comes to what he's trying to do." Dib explained to her, trying to sound dramatic.  
  
"Why don't you just go live with him…maybe you'll end up killing each other, saving me the trouble…" Gaz said walking ahead of Dib, stepping up the stairs and going into the large building. Dib stopped and watched his little sister going into the school, he just wanted to show her just how much danger she was in, ever since their mother died, he watched out for Gaz, but lately, he didn't even know if she even cared.  
  
"Why hello Dib." He heard the familiar, usually harsh voice from behind him as he started up the stairs, turning around, he saw Zim, the smooth, green- skinned resident alien of the school. He couldn't help but glare at him, he wanted to stop him so badly, but something kept stopping him, getting in his way, but what it was, he couldn't understand.  
  
"Hello…Zim." Dib said, turning his back to the little alien, starting to open the double doors, hoping to get to class faster so that he didn't have to 'stand and chat' with his rival.  
  
"I do love how you always seem cringe whenever you hear my voice, it tells me just how SCARED you actually are." Zim said, letting out a slight laugh as Dib stepped into the school, slamming the door behind him, conveniently hitting Zim in the head as he hurried to try and get to class, not even he would face the wrath of Mrs. Bitters.  
  
Class time went as it usually did, Mrs. Bitters gave a lecture on something dark and seemingly evil, while Zim sat back and made comments about how humans would suffer like that again once he became the supreme ruler of the human race, each time he did however, he got a menacing glare from Mrs. Bitters, and one not-so menacing one from Dib. Time seemed to slowdown the closer it got to the lunch break, Dib would feel beads of sweat starting to trail down the side of his face as he watched the clock. As soon as he was done eating he was going to wait outside; hopefully with Gaz (he wanted to make sure she didn't get too close to wherever Zim was), watching for the delivery truck that would bring his new device.  
  
"Dib! Stop watching that clock, you're making the other children nervous!" Mrs. Bitters shouted, as she seemed to float over in front of Dib's desk.  
  
"Sorry Mrs. Bitters…" he said, he looked over when he heard Zim's chuckle, but he too was quickly silenced by Mrs. Bitters. Knowing something was up, Zim started to watch the clock, but he, now like Dib, was trying to hide it from Mrs. Bitters. The clock ticked down from five minutes, to three, to one, then back to two, Zim and Dib, even though they had a strong hate for one another, looked at each other with confused look when the clock ticked backwards. Once the bell rang, the students ran out of the classroom, stampeding almost to get to the cafeteria, today's lunch was potatoes and ketchup day, a favorite for most students; they seemed to ignore the dangerous side-effects of most of the schools food.  
  
Dib and Zim both got lost in the 'herd' of students, there were so many people they could barely see a foot in front of their faces because someone else was blocking their way. When they saw the doors to the cafeteria, they crammed through it, hoping to knock the other back, but instead they each flew forward, flying into other students, knocking trays out of their hands, sending potatoes and ketchup flying. When Dib finally came to a painful stop, he looked up to see Gaz covered in ketchup, she looked down at him, gritting her teeth and glaring at her older brother, the skull she wore around her neck seemed to glare down at him as well, as if he had angered its spirit.  
  
"Hi Gaz…" Dib said quietly as he pulled himself to his feet, "Sorry about the ketchup, at least it didn't get on your GameSlave2 huh?" he asked brushing himself off, but got a worried look on his face with his sister held up her left arm, her hand holding a potato covered GameSlave2.  
  
"I'm going to go wash up, if you're here when I get back, I'll make you wish I was never born…" she said harshly, glaring at Dib, he looked into his sisters eyes which seemed to be on fire with hate for him. He only watched silently again as she left the room, he truly was sorry, he just didn't know if Gaz knew that, she always took things seriously, too seriously, she always threatened him, or other students, there was something that worried him though, she didn't like what was around her, Dib was afraid his little sister and Zim would form an alliance, so that they could each get what they wanted.  
  
Dib felt several confused eyes watching him as he stood about twenty feet away from the entrance of the cafeteria, his trench coat was covered in what would seem to be potatoes and ketchup, but no one could know for sure. He shook off the worry that covered his face and looked around, people WERE starring at him, but he didn't care, something was missing. He then sat down at one of the tables, which quickly cleared out once he sat down and continued to look around the cafeteria, "what's missing…" he asked himself, he looked out into the hallway, hearing what seemed to be a fight starting, then it hit him, Zim was the one that was missing.  
  
Quickly getting up and running out of the cafeteria, he called out for Gaz, something was telling him she was in danger, but he didn't know where she was, "Gaz! Gaz! Where are you! Gaz! Answer me!" he yelled out, still running down the long, dark hallway. Students that were in the hall looked at him strangely as he ran by, calling out for his sister, he ran past Mrs. Bitters class, who's form seemed to snake over to the door and look out of it, going to yell at Dib, but he didn't care, he wanted to find Gaz, that was all he cared about right now. As he got down to the girl's bathroom, he called out for Gaz again, "Gaz! Where are you! Answer me! Call me crazy, call me stupid! Just Answer me, Gaz!" he yelled out, then as he ran by, he tripped over something, turning over and looking behind him he saw a purple compact on the floor. He stood up and picked it up, and fell to his knees, in his hands was the GameSlave2 Gaz had been playing; it had been cleaned off, but not turned back on. Dib could feel a welt of guilt building up inside of him; his eyes burned as he held his head up and screamed for his sister, then gripped onto the GameSlave2 and tried not to collapse into tears.  
  
Zim looked out from around a corner, he knew Dib was going to blame him, he wished he HAD taken the Gaz-human, but in seeing Dib's reaction, even Zim knew that would have been too cruel. Stepping out from around the corner, he knew he left himself open for blame as Dib looked up at him, after hearing the little green alien's footsteps.  
  
"You…" Dib said, almost growling as he stood up, still holding the GS2 at his side, Zim raised his hands in front of him as Dib took a couple steps towards him, trying not to stagger and fall with each one.  
  
"I didn't do this, I would have thought of it, but I wouldn't have done this in such a crowed place…I just thought I would say that before you blamed me. But I think I shall still take advantage of this opportunity, with you do distraught, it gives me a chance to observe how humans react to losses such as these, than I can somehow transmit those feelings to everyone else on earth, making them bend to my will." Zim said, sounding superior to the human race, making one of his hands a fist to show what he will rule with and how humans will follow his every command. In a move of desperation, Dib fell forward, holding into the front of Zim's over shirt, his eyes wide with shock and fear over what happened to Gaz.  
  
"Help me find her! You're the only one with the technology, Zim!…you've got to…please…" he said falling to the floor his eyes now overflowing with tears, the GS2 fell next to Zim's feet as he watched Dib's surprising display of emotion. Seeing the GameSlave2 on the floor, Zim kneeled down and picked it up, something was coming over him, he couldn't explain it, probably because he had no idea what it was. As he inspected it, he saw a green goo substance on one corner of the device, his pack then activated and a pair of magnifying glasses appeared over his eyes, looking at the goo, he analyzed it, checking the chemical make-up and DNA structure. His eyes widened as the glasses went back into the pack and he looked down at Dib.  
  
"Get up, we're going to my Lab." He said kicking at the human and walking past him. Dib looked up and jumped to his feet, quickly following the little alien, he didn't want to, but he knew he would have to join forces with Zim if he ever wanted to see Gaz again.  
  
Gaz opened her eyes and tried to focus her vision, everything was blurry, like she had been poked in the eye one too many time. She found herself strapped up against a table of some sorts that was up against a wall. As she looked around she saw the back of a green alien with a pack on his back, "Zim, let me go, let me go now, or else I will tear that little shell from your back and you get to use it as a seat cushion!" she yelled at the little alien, but blinked as it began to laugh at her, still with its back turned.  
  
"You speak such big words for such a little being. I find it laughable you even thought of me as that failure, Zim. I suggest you keep your mouth shut, you might lose that pretty little voice of yours." The alien said turning around and glaring at her, his eyes were red, like Zim's, his skin was green, like Zim's, but something was different, even his pack was pink, like Zim's. Gaz glared back at him though she was truly frightened, so scared in fact, she thought she might burst out crying, but she was too strong for that, the last time she cried was after her mother died, and even then, no one saw her.  
  
"Who are you…?" she asked lightening her glare slightly.  
  
"I am Invader Sirk, if you think I look like that miserable insect Zim, it's because we are from the same planet, which is only a half light-year from your disgusting world, I'm surprised no one other than your half-wit brother discovered it. The tallest were getting tired of waiting for Zim to complete his mission, so I was sent here to 'assist' him, you might say that I'm here to get rid of certain distractions that get in his way."  
  
"Why am I here then, why not take Dib!" she yelled at Sirk, which brought another laugh from the alien.  
  
"Don't you understand, by taking you, it will eventually take care of all distractions, and the earth will then be nothing more than another ball of flames like the rest of the planets that the Irken Empire has taken over." Sirk said walking over to a computer and showing Gaz a simulation of a flaming earth with the Irken insignia on it.  
  
"It'll never work…" she said glaring again, "Dib wi—" she was then cut up by the alien's laugh again.  
  
"Dib will what?! Stop me? I don't think so, Zim was right about one thing, your planet's defenses are pathetic. Simply pathetic, face it little one, your world is nothing. Absolutely nothing, just give up now." Sirk said walking closer to Gaz and smirking up at her. She simply looked away and looked to the large window, all she could see was earth, she didn't know if she even cared or not, she just wanted to go home.  
  
Zim walked proudly in front of Dib as they got closer to his little green house that didn't seem to quite fit with the other houses in the round- about. "I will tell you this now earth-stink, some things you will see might frighten you, but just remember, you were never there." Zim said quickly turning around to face Dib.  
  
"Right, sure sure, whatever, let's just get there." Dib said glaring at the green alien.  
  
"I wouldn't snap at me earth-monkey. I don't have to do this, remember that. I'm just that nice, that's all." Zim said walking to the fence that was in front of the little green house with several lawn gnomes implanted in the yard, along with an "I love Earth" flag. Zim almost had a heart attack when he looked up at his house, every window was open, and so was the door. Inside GIR could be seen watching "The Scary Monkey Show" on the couch, holding one of his many stuffed animals.  
  
"GIR! I told you NOT to open the windows!" Zim said running into his house and slamming the door behind him, almost hitting Dib who barely made it inside.  
  
"Oh yeah…but I did everything else you told me to do, I went to the lab, and to the loading bay of the Voot runner, aren't you proud of me?" The little robot said smiling at Zim.  
  
"I told you NOT to go to the lab, and NOT to go to the Voot runner bay!" he yelled.  
  
"Oh yeah…I guess I got mix—Sir! Look out Dib's here!" GIR yelled jumped up off the couch, his eyes turning red as rocket launchers came from his back and aimed at Dib.  
  
"I know he's here GIR…at least you almost did something right…" Zim said walking over and shutting the window and locking the door, "Dib and I will be in the lab, I want you to stay up here and guard the house. He then started to lead Dib to the end table that covered the entrance to the lab.  
  
"Oh! You got a message, it came in when I was in the control room." GIR said not unlocking his eyes from the television.  
  
"You were in the control room…I guess that's not important. It was probably The Tallest checking up on me." Zim said pushing a button that lifted the end table off the ground to reveal a lift.  
  
"If one of The Tallest's names is Sirk, then you're right." GIR said looking over to Zim, clutching his stuffed pig.  
  
"Sirk..? I don't remember hearing that name at the academy…" Zim said stepping on the lift and motioning for Dib to follow. As the lift went down, Dib was in awe at what was passing his eyes, things he had only dreamed of, and had only seen on one other occasion. Zim stood there, thinking, racking his brain trying to remember that name.  
  
As the lift stopped and a large door opened showing large screens and control panels that filled the entire room. "First we'll check that transmission, just to see who it's from." Zim said walking over to a panel that was below a large screen. After hitting a few buttons the Irken Insignia came up on the large screen, "Now let's just take a look a—AH!" Zim yelled falling back to Dib's feet at the sight of Sirk's face, his eyes glaring as he smirked in the transmission. Dib looked from Zim to the screen, somewhat confused.  
  
"Who is that…" he said looking at the screen, the alien's head took up the whole screen as the audio part of the transmission came through.  
  
"Hello Zim. Are you surprised to see me? No surprise I don't see you, you're probably out, frolicking with those Human Earth Scum, I thought I'd help you out, I'm here to get rid of some distractions so that you may complete your mission." Sirk said stepped aside from the screen showing the rest of his control room.  
  
"Gaz!" Dib yelled out at the unconscious form of his sister still strapped to the wall; this was obviously from some time ago. Zim looked up and saw her too, but glared when Sirk came back on screen.  
  
"Look familiar? I figured that if I had the little one, the rest of your distractions would come soon enough, I guess I'll see you soon, little Zim. I have to report to The Tallest with my progress, who knows, I might get promoted to taking your planet as well as the girl." Sirk said, starting to laugh as the transmission cut out, as soon as it did Zim jumped to his feet and ran over to the control panel, not noticing Dib falling to his knees at the sight of his confined sister.  
  
"I know where I've heard that name, Invader Sirk was one of those quiet, little suck ups that did everything to get on the good side of The Tallest. He must have done something to have them send him all the way over here, without a SIR even, at least I didn't see one…" Zim said replaying the transmission, without audio this time watching the back ground to get an idea of where he was at by looking out the windows, "I won't let him take my mission from my by using dirty little tricks like that, no way, no how. Dib?" he said looking over his shoulder to see Dib, pale as a ghost, just staring at Gaz on the transmission. "Dib…I hate to do this, it makes my body turn with hate, that's how must I hate to do this, but, I promise you, I'll help you get Gaz back." Zim said looking directly at Dib, who blinked in surprise, then nodded.  
  
"We have to hurry, our dad will be home soon, and if he notices both me and Gaz missing he'll be worried." Dib said walking over to the controls and looking out the window on the freeze-framed video, "He shouldn't be too hard to find, he's between the moon and the earth here, but he's also moving, so he probably went and hid behind the dark side of the moon. It's the perfect hiding spot if you think about it, no one has ever seen it, and no one can see it, even with a telescope. If we had something that could get us there, we can get Gaz back, and no one would be able to tell." Dib explained hitting a button with a magnifying glass on it to zoom in on the window. Zim blinked and nodded in agreement.  
  
"We'll bring GIR as well, I'm sure he can be some sort of distraction…he's enough of one here." Zim said as a few crashes were heard from upstairs and GIR's insane laughter could be heard along with it. Zim then left the room, once again motioning Dib to follow, but he hesitated, hitting the magnification button again and zooming in on Gaz, he wouldn't let her get hurt, and he wouldn't lose her, he couldn't.  
  
Sirk glared at the screen as he watched Dib follow Zim into the other room, he had planted a bug in the transmission so that he could watch Zim's every move, he was pleased that everything was going according to his plan, but he was outraged that Zim had betrayed his people, gone against his mission, but he wasn't surprised either, he figured it would happen. He glanced back at Gaz, her eyes were wide open, he actually thought he saw tears starting to gather in her light brown eyes, but she shook it off then glared at Sirk.  
  
"Getting soft are we little Gaz?" he asked stepping over to her, she only gritted her teeth at him.  
  
"I told you Dib will stop you." She said, she couldn't believe she had just said that, in fact she looked confused as she said it, the glared back at Sirk as he once again began to laugh.  
  
"You know nothing little Gaz, just wait you'll get to watch everything you know and love disintegrate before your eyes, then watch whatever might be left become ruled by the Irken Empire." He said smirking up at the little earth girl, but she just looked away hearing all of this caused Gaz to look up at the screen, part of her wishing to see Dib walk into the control room again.  
  
Dib looked around the observatory, it was larger than even his, there were screens filling the whole room showing whatever the telescope saw from just about every angle imaginable. He looked up at Zim who stood on a lift, looking into the lens of the huge telescope. "Did you find it yet?" he asked moving under the lift, then looking to one of the many screens as Zim commanded the computer to look behind a space station.  
  
"No sick little Earth-Monkey, now be quiet, you're ruining my concentration." Zim said looking down at Dib who glared up at him.  
  
"Did you look behind the moon yet?" he ask walking over the a large screen and sitting in a chair, "I'll bet you anything he's there." He said smirking at Zim, trying to look superior, Zim just looked down at him then turned back to his telescope, very quietly giving computer orders to look behind the moon, hoping Dib wouldn't hear him, but glared back down to the floor hearing a single laugh from down below. He turned back to the lens, searching everywhere he could for Sirk's ship.  
  
"See! I told you it wouldn't be he—AH!" Zim said almost falling off the lift as a huge ship completely filled the lens and every screen in the room. It was ten times larger than the Voot Runner, and five times larger than Zim's station he put orbiting the earth, Sirk's ship had a large Irken insignia on the top and a large bubble of glass in the front, acting like a gigantic window.  
  
"You didn't come to earth in one of those…you only came in your puny little Voot Runner…" Dib said staring wide-eyed at the screens that held the huge ship in view.  
  
"The Tallest only give very special Invaders ships like that…how did Sirk get one? Maybe he stole it…yes, I'll tell myself he stole it." Zim said standing back up and riding the lift the twenty-some feet back to the floor, "GIR!" he said, knowing the little robot could hear him from anywhere in the house.  
  
"Yes sir!" the little robot said sticking his head out of a porthole in the wall, his usually light blue eyes, center piece, and shoulder joins were red as he looked at Zim.  
  
"Get the Voot Runner ready, Dib and I will be up there shortly, after we get properly equipped for this mission." Zim said motioning for Dib once again to follow him into another room.  
  
"Ok!" GIR said, his parts going back to the normal blue as he turned around and went back through the porthole, Zim shuddered as he could hear the clunking of mettle and the small robots little song as he got up into the Voot Runner Loading Bay.  
  
"Why don't you just fix him?" Dib asked walking over to Zim as they got to a door that said "Weapons of Somewhat Mass Destruction, No GIRs Aloud" on the front.  
  
"He's not broken, and something tells me he's just faking being stupid." Zim said waving his hand under a censor that caused the doors the slide open. Dib couldn't tell if it was smoke of steam that came out of the room in a large plume, all he knew was that it was warm as they each walked into the room, the door sliding shut behind them.  
  
Gaz glared at Sirk as he hit a few buttons on a large control panel, "I'll tell you again, Let me go, let me go n--!!" she said but got cut off by waves of electricity that began to course through her body, she could smell her hair burning along with her flesh as Sirk raised the intensity  
  
"I warned you about snapping at me little earth worm. Why didn't you listen? Did you not think you would be punished? It doesn't matter anyway, Zim and your idiot brother are on their way, I might just keep you alive long enough to watch them both die, wouldn't that be nice, it IS what you want, isn't it?" he asked walking over to Gaz as he turned off the voltage. She looked at him; her eyes barely open now, her hair slightly smoking from the electricity.  
  
"…ugh…Dib…hur…" she couldn't finish her sentence as everything around her went black once again and her head hung low as she was still strapped to the wall. Sirk laughed and turned back to the control panel, he had to report back to The Tallest and tell them of his progress; soon everything would be as it should.  
  
Zim tossed Dib a large gun, or at least he thought it was a gun, it had a trigger, but it had bulges and rings around parts of it. Dib looked at Zim raising one eyebrow as he saw the small alien pick up a very large weapon that looked similar to a bazooka.  
  
"I'll use this." Zim said putting it over his shoulder and going to walk out of the weapons room, "You get that because you are inexperienced with Irken Weapons of War." He said as the door opened and he stepped up into the observatory once again and going towards the door which opened into the control room.  
  
"Is this some kind of alien laser that will melt my enemy from the inside?" Dib asked quickly following him through the other rooms.  
  
"No of course not, don't be silly…it'll just melt his skin, causing burns and severe pain." Zim said laughing slightly as he looked back at the main screen in the control room. He noticed that Dib had probably zoomed in on Gaz to give himself some incentive as to why he was working with his enemy. Zim looked up at the unconscious human, then looked back at Dib who was also looking up at the picture, he noticed the pain in the human's eyes, as if he was blaming himself for everything that had happened to his little sister. Gaz had saved Dib a couple of times, disregarding her own safety or possible outcomes of her coming and actually getting into Zim's base.  
  
Dib looked at Zim, the only time he had ever been so serious with the alien was when they had to work together to try and get out of Dib's mind and they were getting chased by monsters that were trying to get into the real world. "Let's go." Dib said putting the gun on his right shoulder and looking back at the screen.  
  
"The Voot Runner Bay is this way." Zim said walking over to another door and letting it open up to another lift. Zim stepped in and rested the 'bazooka' against the wall, making room for Dib to fit in, "Hopefully GIR's not playing with anything in there, we need to leave as soon as possible. Like I said, we'll bring GIR with us he'll create some kind of diversion while we get into the main part of Sirk's ship. Once we get in there, one of us should be able to get Gaz down from the restraints, after that, we have to try and get back to the Voot Runner and back here as soon as possible, Sirk will probably come after us, unless we come up with some sort of plan on the way there." Zim said as the lift started up, a ring could be seen around the lift as it went past floors.  
  
"Right…" Dib said looking at Zim, "This is hard for me, but…thank you for helping me get my sister back." He said Zim looked at him for a second then shook it off.  
  
"This is a one time thing, don't get used to it." Zim said as the door opened and he walked past Dib carrying the bazooka over his shoulder and walking towards a large set of stairs that lead to the Voot Runner. Dib watched as Zim's attention turned to the small robot with the large light blue eyes that sat on top of the Voot Runner and danced, he couldn't understand why Zim just didn't fix the stupid little thing. "GIR, get down from there." Zim said waving his arm at the robot, he looked down at Zim, then at the gun them jumped down, his eyes once again turning red.  
  
"Yes my lord!" GIR said, but right after he said it, his eyes went back to blue and he started to run around the loading bay.  
  
"Come on Dib, we'll have to hurry if we want to make it back here before tomorrow. I'm sure the three, soon to be four, of us, can fit in the Voot Runner." Zim said opening the hatch, "But like I said before stinky little earth monkey, don't get used to this." He then hopped into the small ship with GIR jumping in and sitting his head, Dib looked confused as to how they were all going to fit inside, but shrugged his shoulders and ran up the stairs and hopped into the ship moving to the back, taking care not to hit the large bazooka.  
  
"Warning, nearing maximum weight capacity!" the ships computer said as soon as the hatch had been closed, Zim looked to Dib, then to GIR, then to the weapons.  
  
"I guess this IS over-doing it, just a little" Zim said opening the hatch and tossing the bazooka out, showing no care when it fired a hole in the wall, which brought an amazed "Oooo" from GIR as a few wall tiles fell and a small fire started. "The systems will put that out." Zim explained looking at the now confused Dib, "Let's roll." Zim then said turning to the controls and hitting a button which raised the platform up to the ceiling that opened tilting up slightly so that the ship could start it's boosters and go into space. Dib looked around as the small pod went over their city, it was almost dusk now and the lights of the skyscrapers were starting to light up the area. He looked over and saw his very large telescope.  
  
"I hope my dad isn't home yet…" he said as his watched his house become a small dot and disappear as the pod became heated as it went into the atmosphere and into the earth's orbit.  
  
"How long should it take us to get to the moon?" Zim asked paying no attention to Dib as he watched the area outside.  
  
"It all depends on how powerful your thrusters are, it can take anywhere from an hour to a month. If you put all your power into your thrusters and make it so Sirk can't see us, we should be able to get there quickly and unnoticed." Dib explained looking over at Zim, after he was finished he tilted his head, the little robot was sitting with it's small metal legs wrapped around Zim's head as he ate a hotdog and looked out the window.  
  
"Right, there's a chance we won't make it back, but we can take fuel from Sirk's ship." Zim said hitting a few buttons and giving the commands to put all power to the thrusters and hide the energy signature from the Voot Runner.  
  
"Can I ask you something?" Dib asked looking at Zim confused.  
  
"Yes, but make it quick, soon we won't be able to speak, it'll make it too easy to for Sirk to find us if we talk." Zim explained as the Voot Runner sped up, the space stations and satellites starts to 'zoom' past them.  
  
"Why is it that GIR eats constantly, but you don't eat at all?" Dib asked looking up at the robot as it finished off the hotdog.  
  
"That's none of your business." Zim said glaring at Dib. GIR smiled at Dib and jumped down to the little space that was left of Zim and sat down. Dib shook his head and looked back out the window, just watching everything go by.  
  
Sirk laughed and turned back to Gaz as she woke up from her unconsciousness. "Did you hear that little Gaz? Your idiot brother and that traitor are coming to rescue you. It's funny, they're going to die right in front of you." He said starting to laugh, Gaz blinked at the sudden realization of everything that was going to happen. "Aren't you happy? This is exactly what you want, isn't it? They'll both be out of your way, you'll be free, able to do what you wish. That is what you want…isn't it?" Sirk said evilly as he walked up to Gaz.  
  
"…I don't know…" she said and winced as the pain quickly came back to her, she felt burns all over her body from the voltage that had gone through her body. "Why are they both coming after me? I would think that with Dib gone, Zim could do whatever he wanted, and vise versa…" she quietly said, she felt like she was falling apart, like things were breaking everywhere in her life.  
  
"Maybe there's something about you that intrigues the little rat. I don't know, don't worry, they'll both die, so don't waste your thoughts." Sirk explained as he walked over to a different control panel. "SIR, come to me now." He said, almost as soon as he did, a small robot that looked almost just like GIR jumped into the room, except this one was red, and something told Gaz this was one evil, even though she had seen GIR's eyes get red, this one was different.  
  
"Yes my lord!" the robot said saluting Sirk.  
  
"SIR, I want you to guard the loading bay. If anyone comes, do not let them pass, if you have to, kill them." He said, the little robot saluted again and jumped back out of the room.  
  
"It's actually obedient. Nothing like GIR." Gaz said almost in amazement.  
  
"GIR is a defect, we were all surprised it didn't explode when it was first given to Zim, but I guess it was better that he had the little tin-can, that way he won't mess things up anymore than he already has." Sirk said walking over to the control panel once again, hitting a few keys so that he can watch the loading bay of his ship.  
  
"Makes sense, but that little 'tin-can' helped me out once or twice, he's smarter than you think…my god, what did I just say…" Gaz said looking down and around shocked at what was coming out of her mouth, she was saying things she usually would have thought absurd.  
  
"Are you getting softer once again little Gaz? Are you really that dependant on others? I never would have thought that of you." Sirk said turning around and giving her a curious look. He walked over and patted her on the cheek, as he did so Gaz growled at him, seeming to shoot daggers through her eyes at the small alien. That brought another laugh from him as he walked away, "I wouldn't act like that around me little Gaz, remember I'm taller than you and that's all that mattered." He said, Gaz looked at him strangely not understanding what her height had to do with anything. Sirk gave her an equally strange look not understanding how she couldn't understand that height had to do with everything, how tall you were meant how powerful you were in the eyes of the Irken people.  
  
"I may be short, but I'm stronger than you may think." Gaz said looking at Sirk, her normal glare returning to her face.  
  
"You don't get it, it's the same here as it is on Irk. On Irk, being tall equals power, the Tallest are in charge of everything because they are taller than everyone else on the planet. It is the same here, your father is taller than you, is he not, which means he has power over you, your pitiful brother is taller than you as well, he has power over you too. Zim is the smallest of our people and that is why he was sent to earth, he has no power." Sirk explained sitting on a small pod that floated above the cold floor of the control room.  
  
"You don't understand us at all. You may not grow, but we do, the taller we are doesn't show our power, it show our age and experience. I'm in middle school, but I'm also a grade below Dib because he's older than me and our father is taller than both of us because he's older than both of us he's also an adult with a job. Our father helps people of height and ages as well as works with them. It doesn't matter how tall you are on earth, it matters how much experience you have in life." Gaz said her glare softening slightly as she said it, she felt a sense of pride as she did so, proud to be a human, proud to be on earth. "You should understand that even though I'm small I have just as much, if not more power than you do." She said almost smirking at Sirk, then she started to yell out in pain as he once again sent electricity through her body, he wanted to do this until she passes out, he wanted to do this until she died, but he stopped, watching her go limp in her restraints, her hair smoking and her skin burning more, she wasn't dead, but this would at least keep her quiet for now. He looked back as his control panel, hoping he would get a message from the Tallest soon, he couldn't fail with this, they had to control earth and there were so many things they needed and they knew that Zim couldn't do what they needed with this planet.  
  
As the small Voot Runner made a smooth turn, it became shadowed by the moon, making it hard to see even with the light of the passenger area of the small ship. As soon as they were completely behind the moon, Dib and Zim saw the large ship; it was even bigger than they thought. Putting the Voot Runner next to it and trying to compare the two would be insulting to the much larger ship; it was so large that the moon barely covered it, in fact the only way they had an idea where Sirk might be was by the large viewing window on one side. Zim pointed to what seemed to be a large door on the side and brought his ship closer to it to investigate.  
  
Indeed it was a door, a very large door, if it was possible without killing the people inside of the Voot Runner, it would have been able to squeeze through the cracks where the doors shut. "Now what?" Dib asked looking at Zim, GIR was jumping around the ship, just wanting the door to open. Zim laughed and hit one button, sending two orbs of energy into the large doors, melting the lining and creating an opening just big enough for the Voot Runner. Even though the blast was small, it must have shook the whole ship and Zim hesitated to go inside, as if waiting for retaliation from Sirk's defenses, but got nothing. Dib looked at Zim and GIR and shrugged, as Zim moved the Voot Runner slowly into the loading bay of the ship. It was dark inside, the headlights of the Voot Runner reflected off the walls slightly lighting the area, showing it was empty expect for a couple escape pods and fuel tanks. They flew the ship around moving the lights over the walls searching for an exit.  
  
"Uh…Zim?" Dib asked as the lights shown against a set of large double doors and Zim lowered the Voot Runner in front of them.  
  
"What is it now earth monkey?" Zim asked as he hit a couple more buttons.  
  
"We're letting the air out of the bay, how am I supposed to get into the ship?" Dib asked as he watched a bubble go over Zim's head like a helmet, protecting him from the vacuum of the airless space.  
  
"GIR and I will go out there first, since these doors open automatically, as soon as we get into the sensors and the doors open, you hit this button," he pointed to a small yellow button, "and propel yourself through the door, I will follow you and GIR will stay here, once the doors shut, you can breathe again." Zim explained about the hit the small yellow button, "don't forget to hold your breath of course." He said, laughing slightly as he hit the button and the top of the Voot Runner opened. Zim and GIR jumped out and the Voot Runner closed once again, giving Dib a chance to breathe before he tried to make it to the door. He watched Zim and GIR float over to the door and waited for it to open, and was about the hit the button when it did but ended up screaming as a SIR stood in the doorway as soon as it opened. It's eyes glowing red, glaring at Zim and his robot.  
  
"You are an intruder." It said in a deep dark voice, it took a step a couple steps closer, rocket launchers came out from its back and it stood ready to fire at them.  
  
"Hi!" GIR said waving at the other robot, giving Zim time to kick it to the side, well knowing its guard was down, GIR could distract anyone that was trying to kill them.  
  
"Now Dib!" Zim yelled running past the door and into the hallway, making sure to keep it open for him as Dib hit the small yellow button and pushing himself against the back wall of the Voot Runner, letting the force propel himself through the door, but he started to panic as he started to slow and his breath was quickly leaving lungs. He reached out for Zim in fear that he might not make it. The small alien jumped out and grabbed Dib then threw him into the hallway then moved so that the doors would close. As soon as Dib hit the floor and the doors closed, the artificial gravity of the ship took over and he could feel himself being held down on the floor. He coughed then looked at Zim.  
  
"The gun! We have to go back!" he said jumping up to his feet, then falling to his knee, deciding it might be better to let his body adjust to the artificial gravity of the ship.  
  
"I knew something like this might happen, so I brought along a spare." Zim said, the pack on his back glowing and a robotic arm appeared holding a gun, it was smaller than the one Dib had, but not by much.  
  
"How do you fit all that stuff in there…" Dib said, but Zim just ignored him as he started off in front of him.  
  
"Hopefully GIR can handle the SIR while you and I go find Sirk and get Gaz out of here. Who knows what kind of hideous experiments he's doing to that human, am I the one who does experiments on humans, not that short little push over!" Zim said starting to stalk off down the hallway. Dib blinked at the way Zim was acting so up tight and angry over all of this. He wanted to tell himself that Zim was angry because of Gaz, but he knew it was only because someone was trying to take his role as the one who took over the earth and enslaved the human race.  
  
"Wait for me Zim!" Dib said pushing himself to his feet and almost running after him. The small alien only looked over his shoulder and slightly slowed his pace as he waiting for Dib to get up with him as they made their way down the long corridor, following the large signs that said "Bridge This Way" with large red arrows pointing in the direction.  
  
Sirk stood on the bridge, just laughing at Zim and Dib as he watched them run down the long corridors, following the many signs to the bridge. Gaz watched Sirk laughing and glared at him. Everything was happening so quickly now, Dib and Zim were already here, but GIR was nowhere to be seen, she didn't know if Sirk's SIR had destroyed Zim's little robot or not. Sirk turned around to look at her, his smile was becoming more and more wicked by the second, his red eyes were slanted in a glare as he walked over to Gaz and looked up at her.  
  
"I told you everything will jut fall into place, all the distractions are here and will soon come together, then everything will be over. The Irken Empire will take over your dismal planet and I will be the soul Irk who will rule over you all." Sirk said turning his back to Gaz; her glare disappearing as her head looked up at the screen that watched Dib and Zim on their way to the bridge. She focused on Dib as he ran, she felt a pain in her chest as she saw the serious look on his face, is eyes almost saying 'I'm coming Gaz, hold on.' She watched him, paying no attention to the odd look Sirk was giving her.  
  
"Dib…" she said, everything was coming to her now, the realization that they might not make it out of this place, they might never make it home, at least, not all of them, "…go home Dib, go home!" she said, finally raising her voice, hoping Dib might possibly hear her words are he continued the run behind Zim towards to the bridge, they were getting closer now, noticed some rooms that she had past when she was falling in and out of consciousness. "Dib no go home!" she yelled again and looked down at Sirk as he started to laugh at her.  
  
"He can't hear you little Gaz, no one can, well, no one expect me, and I don't think you want me to hear you, I might do something drastic to get you to be quiet. I'm sure that little tongue of yours would make an excellent experiment for the All Mighty Tallest, or any of the higher- ranking Irks. After hearing this Gaz tried once again to break away from the straps that were holding her wrists and ankles against the slab she was being held up against. Sirk laughed again then turned around and glared as the doors to his control room exploded and smoke seemed to reach across the floor, showing the silhouettes of two figures, one holding a gun, the other with his head slightly lowered with his arms at his sides with his hands clenched into tight fists.  
  
The figures stepped into the room, the smoke slightly settling and being taken away by the ventilation systems of the ship, some sparks flew from what was left of the doors as they walked into the sensors, as the sparks lit up the room, the figure holding the gun could be seen as Zim who was aiming it at Sirk, the other one was Dib who was just glaring at the other Irken Invader. "End of the line Sirk." Zim said raising the gun slightly to aim it at Sirk.  
  
"Let my sister go…" Dib said trough his teeth as he glared at the other invader, but the two of the must gave each other confused looks as Sirk started laughing at them and took a couple steps closer to them.  
  
"I'm not afraid of you two, Zim is the biggest failure in the academy, and you Dib, you're nothing more than a stinking human, everyone knows you can't do anything right, simply because your world is doing nothing to defend itself against us, you're just begging to be destroyed, simply begging." Sirk said walking up to them, Dib took a couple steps back, but kept glaring at him, he glanced back at Gaz who was still trying to get out of her restraints.  
  
"Dib run away! Run away!" Gaz yelled, still pulling, the restraint on her left wrist was being pulled and strained so much that part of it was turning from black to almost white.  
  
"Gaz hang on!" Dib yelled taking a few steps forward, going past Sirk, reaching out to her with one arm.  
  
"Not so fast dirt-worm!" Sirk said, suddenly pointing a gun at Gaz's head, Dib looked back at him, not moving a muscle fearing he would shoot his little sister, "if you take one more step closer to her, she will be nothing more than a little pile of ash when you get to her, and shortly after that so will you." He said motioning with the gun for Dib to step back away from his sister.  
  
"Zim…what now.." Dib said once against standing next to him, he looked at the expression on his alien companion's face, he was glaring so much his eyes look almost shut, similar to how Gaz's eyes usually were. "Zim?" Dib asked looking at him.  
  
"Let the girl go now Sirk" Zim said his gun still aimed at the other alien, Sirk laughed and slightly lowered his gun.  
  
"What do you care Zim, this girl is one of the things that's getting in your way. You're supposed to destroy the human race, not befriend and try to protect them." Sirk said, Zim looked up at the aim of Sirk's gun then fired at his hand, the red laser burned the other alien's hand. Sirk's gun fell to the floor and fired off in Gaz's direction. Seeing the other alien down, Dib ran ahead, finding a burst of adrenaline and speed, yelling out to his sister as she screamed, she actually screamed, dib hesitated for a moment never before hearing the terrified scream of his little sister before.  
  
Gaz opened her eyes and looked at down at Dib, she was happy he was here, but she still wanted to him run away. "Dib, what happened?" she asked noticing she wasn't hurt by the laser, "Dib?" she asked looking down at him again. His eyes were wide and his face was paled, the glasses that usually rested on his head were a little crocked, as he looked up at Gaz. His mouth moved to try and say something, but nothing came out, just a slight choke and he collapsed to the floor. "Dib!" Gaz yelled out watching him fall, there was an obvious hole in the back of his trench coat that must have been burned by the laser hitting him and going into his body, "Dib! Wake up! Dib no!" Gaz yelled now frantically trying to break free from her restraints, the two aliens looked at what happened and Zim just stood there, seeing for the first time Gaz's eyes wide with fear and the starting of tears as she watched her brother fall to the ground.  
  
Zim and Sirk each watched as Dib fell, the back of his jacket was starting to shine from the wet blood that was starting to seep from his back. Seeing Zim distracted, Sirk ran over to the control panel and called out for his SIR. When his robot didn't respond, he turned on the camera and moved it around the loading bay, searching for his SIR. When he finally found it, he almost fell over in shock; there were now two SIRs with light blue eyes. He noticed them speaking and turned on the intercom system to listen in.  
  
"This is a cupcake." GIR said holding out a small chocolate pastry. The other robot 'ooed' in amazement at the sweet and took it from GIR, "It fits nicely right where your navigation chip should go." GIR explained, opening the top of his metal head and pointing to where the chip usually went.  
  
"It's contagious…" Sirk said turning back to Zim who had started snickering at the other alien's misfortune.  
  
"You get used to it after a while." Zim said, he then looked back to Dib; blood was starting to seep out and drip onto the ground. He looked up at Gaz, it was the first time he had even heard her in pain, he watched her as she kept trying to get out of her restraints and down to Dib, tears falling from her eyes as she watched Dib's life-force drain from him. Zim looked at the gun in his hand, he was at an impasse. On one hand, his enemy was down, he could finish him off with a single shot, but on the other hand, Sirk was trying to take his mission and was using methods he couldn't believe the All Mighty Tallest would agree to. He raised the gun and looked at his possible targets.  
  
"Where's your alliance Zim? It is with the humans you're sent to take over, or is it with your people?" Sirk asked turning off the loading bay screen and turning to face Zim, smirking at him. Looking at the gun again Zim looked up and aimed it at Gaz, he looked at the tip of the it, noticing it shake; he then realized how unsteady he was. Gaz looked down at Zim, she was obviously frightened beyond belief as she looked at the gun. Zim looked down still holding the gun up at her.  
  
"I'm sorry…" he said then fired, he winced as he heard her scream out again, he only hoped he hit his mark. He looked up after she calmed, hoping he didn't hurt her. Gaz looked down at him, her eyes shocked at what happened. She looked over at her left wrist, then turned and forced a smile at Zim. He almost fell over, but smiled back as Gaz pulled her arm out of the restraint, the strap had been burned by the laser when Zim fired. She shifted over so she could try and break the other restraint using the strength in her arms and with the nails of her free hand as Zim turned around and glared at Sirk.  
  
"Siding with the humans? I should have known you were a traitor." He said stepping back to the panel. Zim only walked closer, slowly raising the gun level to Sirk's chest.  
  
"I'm not siding with anyone but myself. You're trying to take over my mission and you're using ways that even the Tallest would be against. Regardless of what they told you, I'm sure they never knew what you were going to do." Zim said holding up a small black box in his left hand, it had a speaker on it with a little red light on. Sirk looked at it then back to Zim, glaring. He didn't have to look down because he was away from the little alien, but if he had been right next to him, he would have to look down because Zim was somewhat shorter than Sirk. "They know of what you were doing now, and it doesn't sound like they're too happy." Zim hit a button on the side and the voice of All Mighty Tallest Red could be heard through it.  
  
"Sirk you said you were going to help Zim out because he was so far behind. Hostage taking and attempted murder are out of the question and you know it. Not only that, but you took one of our largest, most important ships and didn't tell us." The voice said, Sirk fell to his knees looking up at the small voice box.  
  
"Please Sir, I just wanted to accomplish our mission. You know as well as I that Zim couldn't do this on his own." Sirk said starting to stammer his words, almost in fear even though the Tallest were several million miles away.  
  
"Why do you think we sent Zim to Earth? He knows why he's there and you should know why you were here. You were supposed to send him equipment to speed up his invasion, not try and take over his mission." Another voice said, this one of All Mighty Tallest Purple.  
  
"We have given Zim full permission to do what he has been and you didn't want to understand that. Well now, it's time for your punishment." Red's voice said as the voice box went to static. Sirk looked to Zim who put the recorder away and went back to aiming his gun at Sirk.  
  
"I'll kill you…" Sirk said stepping forward, but fell to his knee as Zim fired the gun into Sirk's hip.  
  
"No you won't." Zim said, turning back and shooting off the last of Gaz's restraints so that she could get down to Dib who was loosing more and more blood. With the sound of an alarm the ship suddenly shook and the lights went red as a timer appeared on the screen counting down one minuet. "Quickly Gaz, the Tallest have activated the self destruct system from their ship. We have to get Dib to an escape pod quickly." Zim said running out the door, then turning to shoot out the control panel so that Sirk couldn't shut down the command. Gaz put Dib's arm over her shoulder and ran as fast as she could through the corridors making sure to keep Zim in sight at all times.  
  
A small microphone came up out of his back and went in front of his mouth, calling for GIR to meet in him in the escape pod bay as soon as he could. He heard the robot's reply then the explosion of several walls. He stopped momentarily to let the smoke clear and saw GIR and the other SIR he had 'converted' to his ways now standing in the corridor.  
  
"Can I bring my new friend too?" GIR asked running after Zim as he ran by, the SIR waiting for Gaz to get there so it could help her carry Dib. Zim looked at GIR as he kept running then rolled his eyes getting to a pair of doors that opened as the 5 of them made it into the sensor range. They looked around and found a small escape pod then ran over to it. Zim hit a couple buttons and opened the hatch then turned to Gaz.  
  
"You, Dib and the SIR will take this one, GIR and I will go to the Voot Runner and meet you on the other side of the moon. We should be safe from the shock wave there, the SIR should be able to use the pod's controls and get you over there without trouble, just make sure that Dib doesn't loose too much blood." Zim said helping Gaz get Dib into the pod letting the SIR get past him and into the pilot seat of the pod. "Hurry" Zim said letting the hatch close. The SIR started up the engines; it's eyes once again turning red as it operated the systems. As it lifted up and started to fly out of the bay, Gaz turned and watched Zim and GIR run out as they made their way to the loading bay. She turned to Dib, holding her hand tightly over his wound, she could feel the tears starting to fill her eyes again as she looked down at him. He was looking paler, and his lips were starting to get blue, she looked at his fingertips to see how pink they were, his hands were cold along with the rest of his body. The SIR put more power to the engines and flew the pod to the lighter side of the moon.  
  
Zim had to backtrack slightly to go through the way that GIR had blown out by using his rockets to get through the walls. "Hurry GIR!" he yelled jumping over the lower parts of the walls that hadn't been blown away, "We're almost there!" he thought about using the 'spider legs' that helped him get to higher places to move quicker, but decided against it, seeing the darkness of the loading bay so close.  
  
"15 Seconds Until Self Detonation" a harsh computer voice said as the red lights seemed to get darker. Zim thought about what happened to Sirk for a moment, then told himself that the other alien deserved anything he got.  
  
When they got to the loading bay, Zim let a bubble of air cover his head as he grabbed GIR and floated over to the Voot runner, opening the hatch and jumping in, letting it close.  
  
"5…4….3…" the computer said as the engines started up and Zim flew the Voot runner away from the ship, "…2…1…Self Detonation in Progress, have a nice day" the computer said, Zim looked at GIR curiously listening in to what it said so that he had an idea how long he had to get to Gaz and Dib on the other side of the moon.  
  
"Computer all power to the engines!" Zim yelled hitting a large red button, the shock from it trusted the small ship forward as it made its way towards the moon. Behind him the large Irkan ship exploded in a massive burst. Zim could hear the shockwave getting closer as he finally saw the curve of the moon, knowing he was closer to the other side.  
  
"Zim Hurry!" he heard Gaz's voice come over the communication system as the shockwave got even closer, he could feel the Voot Runner shake and rattle as it did. Zim pounded his fist onto the control panel and the ship veered downward, hoping to dodge most of the impact. He looked out the glass and saw Gaz and Dib's escape pod, the Voot runner started to spin as it was hit by the shockwave, but Zim stabilized it, flying it down to the other ship. They watched at the shockwave hit the earth; it seemed to rock the whole planet, but not enough to move it from its orbit.  
  
"Follow me" Zim said starting his way back towards earth, letting the engines slow just slightly so that the SIR could keep up. They all braced for the impact of the atmosphere as they made their way back down to earth, all going to Zim's base, each hoping there was still time to help Dib.  
  
Gaz paced around the main floor of the base, not paying attention to the SIR who had just been introduced to television. She heard noises from down below, some sounded like gears, others sounded like sparks, and some even sounded like gunfire. She heard the sound of rusty gears from the kitchen and quickly ran in there, her hands clasped under her chin, her eyes open, calm, not angry at all. Zim looked up at her when he was lifted into the kitchen, his eyes calm, but still serious.  
  
"He's lost a lot of blood…" he said hopping down from the lift and tossing a pair of gloves into the trash, "His injuries are not too serious, the beam missed his heart and lungs by a fraction of a millimeter. He'll sleep for a while, but he should be fine." He said turning to Gaz and looking down at her. "He was really worried about you, you should be proud to have him." He said walking past her and into the living room to check up on the other SIR.  
  
"I am, sure he's annoying, and gets in the way a lot, but I'm proud to have him and know that he'll always be there. Why do you think I'm always around him, why do you think I've put up with him this long?" Gaz said walking into the room behind him, she glanced at the TV to see a commercial for 'Bloaty's Pizza Hog' seeing that she suddenly realized just how hungry she was and was almost shocked the hear the doorbell ring. Zim's eyes widened as GIR hopped to the main floor, landed on his head, then did a jump flip in the air, landing in his dog suit. Zim dove for cover, but Gaz just watched as GIR opened the door and handed a pizza delivery guy a coupon.  
  
"Bye bye!" GIR said waving to the guy as he shut the door, took off the dog suit and hopped on the couch. Gaz stepped over and looking longingly at the food, which GIR them smiled and held out a slice for her.  
  
"…Thanks." She said sitting down at the floor as she started to eat the pizza. Zim watched and quietly turned back to the kitchen, hopping back up on the lift and letting it take him back to the makeshift medical bay he made for Dib. He walked over to a table where his archrival lay, unconscious, still pale, but healing. The color had returned to his lip and was now resting comfortably. Zim looked at a small puncture wound on the inside of Dib's elbow and sighed.  
  
"You must never know…" Zim said looking to his own, knowing that what he had done was probably the noblest thing he had ever done. "She cares about you so much, I couldn't see her cry anymore." He said looking up at the screen that Sirk's message had played, he noticed it was still zoomed in on the once unconscious Gaz. He felt proud he had got to see a lighter side of her, and that he had gotten to know her, just a little bit. "Sleep well Dib, our fight has just begun." Zim said then shutting off the lights in the control room, then walking into another one, letting himself rest and regain his own strength.  
  
END! 


End file.
